More Commuters Are Going Against the Flow, and Out of the City - New York Times
The New York Times
November 7, 2005
More Commuters Are Going Against the Flow, and Out of the City
By SAM ROBERTS
Manhattan grows on you, like no place else.
Every weekday, more than 1.3 million people commute to work in Manhattan - nearly doubling the borough's population. And while no other city in the country gains more out-of-town commuters than New York - including those who also come to visit, shop, study and play - a small but expanding proportion of the city's residents are reverse commuting to work in the suburbs.
For the first time, the census, analyzing figures from 2000, has calculated the daytime population of the nation's cities. Combined with estimates from city planners and regional transportation agencies, the numbers compose a moving picture that evokes the novelist E. L. Doctorow's depiction of Sherman's conquering army as "a great segmented body moving in contractions and dilations...tubular in its being and tentacled to the roads and bridges over which it travels," except that the commuters collectively advance only so far and reverse direction at the end of every day.
Because New York has so many residents to begin with, though, the daily influx of commuters to all five boroughs from out of town is smaller proportionately than that of many other big cities - a net gain of about 563,000, or 7 percent. Nearly 92 percent of New York's nearly three million workers live here, more than in any other city. In Detroit and San Jose, fewer than half do.
In contrast, commuters swell the daytime population by about 72 percent in Washington, 56 percent in White Plains, 54 percent in Hartford, 41 percent in Boston, 28 percent in Seattle and Denver, and 20 percent in Houston and Dallas. In the resort community of Lake Buena Vista, Fla., home to Walt Disney World, the population swells from 16 permanent residents to more than 30,000 during the day, according to the census. In Atlantic City, it increases by 92 percent.
Most suburban bedroom communities shrink after sunrise. On Long Island, Levittown loses about one-third of its population. Putnam County's falls by one-fourth.
The census suggests that while about 200,000 to 300,000 people leave New York City every day, 800,000 or so others arrive, though urban planners say the influx is understated because only commuters are counted.
"Business visitors, tourists, students - in the context of New York all those are sizable streams of people," said Eric Kober, director of housing, economic and infrastructure planning for the city's Department of City Planning. "The city has 60,000 hotel rooms, and with an average occupancy of 80 percent, that's 40 to 50,000 people right there."
He said the city's daytime population could well be several hundred thousand higher than the census estimates.
The number of people who live in New York and work outside the city is relatively small, but appears to be growing.
In the 1990's, the number of reverse commuters increased by more than 8 percent, or about 20,000 workers, to about 270,000 (or nearly as many as commute to jobs in the city from New Jersey, or Long Island, and more than those who commute from the northern suburbs, including Connecticut). Reverse commuters accounted for 7.8 percent of the city's work force in 1990 and 8.5 percent in 2000, according to the census.
In the Bronx and Queens, about 12 percent of workers have jobs outside the city. About 16 percent of the people who work in Nassau County live in the city, mostly in Queens.
The ranks of reverse commuters range from those who work for companies that were displaced or left Lower Manhattan after 9/11 to immigrants who find jobs in the suburbs because the demand for retail, service and health care workers exceeds the supply.
"Lower-paid jobs in the suburbs increasingly are being taken by people in the city who can't afford to live in the suburbs," said Mr. Kober of the Planning Department.
Rae D. Rosen, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that while the trend is difficult to quantify, "there are vans that take Korean manicurists to Greenwich, and Chinese cooks and wait staffs to Chinese restaurants in Westchester and Long Island. There are housekeepers and nannies who reverse commute on Metro-North to the northern suburbs."
Also, Ms. Rosen said, many bankers and, in particular, foreigners prefer to live in the city and commute. "The traders don't want to live in the suburbs," she said. "They prefer the 24/7 lifestyle of the city."
The number of outbound commuters has risen so steadily for so long that two of the region's biggest transit systems, Metro-North Railroad and New Jersey Transit, started charging them more this year.
When Metro-North raised its fares in March, it eliminated a discount it had long offered to passengers going against the flow during the morning and evening rush. A ticket from Manhattan to White Plains at 8 a.m. now costs as much as one from White Plains to Manhattan.
The number of people boarding outbound trains at Grand Central Terminal and in the Bronx has more than doubled, to about 12,000 each weekday morning, said Robert C. MacLagger, director of operations planning for Metro-North.
"One of the things we were trying to do was provide mobility for people who live in the Bronx to take good-paying jobs in places like White Plains and up to Greenwich and Stamford," Mr. MacLagger said.
In July, New Jersey Transit reduced the discount on its train and bus tickets for travel during off-peak hours, in part because of the growth of reverse commuting, said Jim Redeker, assistant executive director of the agency.
"What we're finding is a significant reverse flow to New Jersey," Mr. Redeker said. "All of the trains coming out of New York heading down to Trenton are full."
Aside from the disruptions after 9/11, long-term transportation figures appear to confirm the trend.
"There is definitely an increase in reverse commuting," said William Wheeler, director of special project development and planning for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. "It's still a small percentage of total customers but it grows each year."
He said reverse commuting during the morning rush accounts for only about 10 percent of commuters, but has about doubled on the Long Island Rail Road, to 10,000, since the mid-90's. As a result, the authority has increased track capacity for more outbound service between Bronxville and Crestwood in Westchester and will do so between Bellerose and Hicksville on Long Island.
The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority estimates that since 2000, the number of vehicles leaving Manhattan has increased slightly, by one or two percentage points, as a proportion of all vehicles during the morning rush.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says that while the number of morning rush commuters on PATH trains has declined since 2001, the number of reverse commuters has remained about the same.
Alexis Perrotta, senior policy analyst at the Regional Plan Association, a nonpartisan research group, attributed the trend, in part, to official policy. Some suburban governments engage in "fiscal zoning," she said, encouraging commercial development to generate property tax revenue while discouraging new housing that would require more schools and other costly public services.
Patrick McGeehan contributed reporting for this article.
* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
Link to Article Source
November 7, 2005
More Commuters Are Going Against the Flow, and Out of the City
By SAM ROBERTS
Manhattan grows on you, like no place else.
Every weekday, more than 1.3 million people commute to work in Manhattan - nearly doubling the borough's population. And while no other city in the country gains more out-of-town commuters than New York - including those who also come to visit, shop, study and play - a small but expanding proportion of the city's residents are reverse commuting to work in the suburbs.
For the first time, the census, analyzing figures from 2000, has calculated the daytime population of the nation's cities. Combined with estimates from city planners and regional transportation agencies, the numbers compose a moving picture that evokes the novelist E. L. Doctorow's depiction of Sherman's conquering army as "a great segmented body moving in contractions and dilations...tubular in its being and tentacled to the roads and bridges over which it travels," except that the commuters collectively advance only so far and reverse direction at the end of every day.
Because New York has so many residents to begin with, though, the daily influx of commuters to all five boroughs from out of town is smaller proportionately than that of many other big cities - a net gain of about 563,000, or 7 percent. Nearly 92 percent of New York's nearly three million workers live here, more than in any other city. In Detroit and San Jose, fewer than half do.
In contrast, commuters swell the daytime population by about 72 percent in Washington, 56 percent in White Plains, 54 percent in Hartford, 41 percent in Boston, 28 percent in Seattle and Denver, and 20 percent in Houston and Dallas. In the resort community of Lake Buena Vista, Fla., home to Walt Disney World, the population swells from 16 permanent residents to more than 30,000 during the day, according to the census. In Atlantic City, it increases by 92 percent.
Most suburban bedroom communities shrink after sunrise. On Long Island, Levittown loses about one-third of its population. Putnam County's falls by one-fourth.
The census suggests that while about 200,000 to 300,000 people leave New York City every day, 800,000 or so others arrive, though urban planners say the influx is understated because only commuters are counted.
"Business visitors, tourists, students - in the context of New York all those are sizable streams of people," said Eric Kober, director of housing, economic and infrastructure planning for the city's Department of City Planning. "The city has 60,000 hotel rooms, and with an average occupancy of 80 percent, that's 40 to 50,000 people right there."
He said the city's daytime population could well be several hundred thousand higher than the census estimates.
The number of people who live in New York and work outside the city is relatively small, but appears to be growing.
In the 1990's, the number of reverse commuters increased by more than 8 percent, or about 20,000 workers, to about 270,000 (or nearly as many as commute to jobs in the city from New Jersey, or Long Island, and more than those who commute from the northern suburbs, including Connecticut). Reverse commuters accounted for 7.8 percent of the city's work force in 1990 and 8.5 percent in 2000, according to the census.
In the Bronx and Queens, about 12 percent of workers have jobs outside the city. About 16 percent of the people who work in Nassau County live in the city, mostly in Queens.
The ranks of reverse commuters range from those who work for companies that were displaced or left Lower Manhattan after 9/11 to immigrants who find jobs in the suburbs because the demand for retail, service and health care workers exceeds the supply.
"Lower-paid jobs in the suburbs increasingly are being taken by people in the city who can't afford to live in the suburbs," said Mr. Kober of the Planning Department.
Rae D. Rosen, senior economist at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, said that while the trend is difficult to quantify, "there are vans that take Korean manicurists to Greenwich, and Chinese cooks and wait staffs to Chinese restaurants in Westchester and Long Island. There are housekeepers and nannies who reverse commute on Metro-North to the northern suburbs."
Also, Ms. Rosen said, many bankers and, in particular, foreigners prefer to live in the city and commute. "The traders don't want to live in the suburbs," she said. "They prefer the 24/7 lifestyle of the city."
The number of outbound commuters has risen so steadily for so long that two of the region's biggest transit systems, Metro-North Railroad and New Jersey Transit, started charging them more this year.
When Metro-North raised its fares in March, it eliminated a discount it had long offered to passengers going against the flow during the morning and evening rush. A ticket from Manhattan to White Plains at 8 a.m. now costs as much as one from White Plains to Manhattan.
The number of people boarding outbound trains at Grand Central Terminal and in the Bronx has more than doubled, to about 12,000 each weekday morning, said Robert C. MacLagger, director of operations planning for Metro-North.
"One of the things we were trying to do was provide mobility for people who live in the Bronx to take good-paying jobs in places like White Plains and up to Greenwich and Stamford," Mr. MacLagger said.
In July, New Jersey Transit reduced the discount on its train and bus tickets for travel during off-peak hours, in part because of the growth of reverse commuting, said Jim Redeker, assistant executive director of the agency.
"What we're finding is a significant reverse flow to New Jersey," Mr. Redeker said. "All of the trains coming out of New York heading down to Trenton are full."
Aside from the disruptions after 9/11, long-term transportation figures appear to confirm the trend.
"There is definitely an increase in reverse commuting," said William Wheeler, director of special project development and planning for the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. "It's still a small percentage of total customers but it grows each year."
He said reverse commuting during the morning rush accounts for only about 10 percent of commuters, but has about doubled on the Long Island Rail Road, to 10,000, since the mid-90's. As a result, the authority has increased track capacity for more outbound service between Bronxville and Crestwood in Westchester and will do so between Bellerose and Hicksville on Long Island.
The Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority estimates that since 2000, the number of vehicles leaving Manhattan has increased slightly, by one or two percentage points, as a proportion of all vehicles during the morning rush.
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey says that while the number of morning rush commuters on PATH trains has declined since 2001, the number of reverse commuters has remained about the same.
Alexis Perrotta, senior policy analyst at the Regional Plan Association, a nonpartisan research group, attributed the trend, in part, to official policy. Some suburban governments engage in "fiscal zoning," she said, encouraging commercial development to generate property tax revenue while discouraging new housing that would require more schools and other costly public services.
Patrick McGeehan contributed reporting for this article.
* Copyright 2005 The New York Times Company
Link to Article Source
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